Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories

If you've ever gotten one of those boxes of fancy chocolates, you've had the pleasure of picking through a variety of delectable treats. This collection of stories by Nix is rather like that - an assortment of different fantasy stories enlivened by Nix's sardonic humor, keen perception challenging the standard tropes of fantasy, and a display of sensitivity to the human condition. Each benefits from an intro by the author.For fans of the Abhorsen trilogy, the first and longest tale in this collection is a must-read; it's a coda to the last book in the series describing Nicholas Sayre's determination to return to the Old Kingdom. It becomes critical rather quickly when Sayre uncovers an ancient free magic threat on the wrong side of the wall, and must do his best to deal with it while summoning help.The rest of the stories are a bit shorter and cover different territory. Several don't fit into easy categories, but others do. Nix has a couple of different takes on the Arthurian universe, has a marvelous send up of the over-extended, over-plotted fantasy series that continue volume after volume, and comes up with a fun parody of the chose-your-own-story genre. There's also a pointed retelling of Hansel and Gretel for a more modern age, and a fantasy Western tale, which reminded me a bit of the Steven King's Dark Tower/Gunslinger series…Enjoy!

I'll admit it, I bought this primarily to read the first story "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case". I was fresh off my read of Abhorsen and I wanted more, dang it! It was indeed, a good little novella. And not the only one I enjoyed in this anthology.I also liked "Charlie Rabbit" which explores the terror of small children alone in a war zone, "Under the Lake" & "Hearts Desire" which are an interesting and chilling re-imagining of a certain figure in authoritarian legend, and an explanation and detailing of magic to patch up a plot hole respectively."Lightning Bringer" was good, and I feel could have been a novel of it's own right. It reminded me a lot of the far more recent "Doctor Sleep". And "Hope Chest" reminded me of the "Dark Tower" series or "The Talisman" in all the best ways. It too could have been a book in it's own right.Honestly, every story in this anthology has something to offer, and none are too long either. Definitely recommended, especially if you like the Author. I blew through the whole collection in a matter of hours.

Most people who don't like this book are simply salty because they thought it would be a series of stories continuing the Abhorsen books. (Admittedly, the cover and title are misleading.) In reality this book is a collection of short stories and miscellany written by Garth Nix, and only the first of these stories is in the Abhorsen world.While I was initially only interested in the first story - Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case - I found several others that I loved and left me hungry for more. There were some I was less interested in, and at least one I didn't care for. But one that has really stuck with me was Hope Chest - I couldn't set it down.

I absolutely love Garth Nix, and for a period of time I greedily read any of his books I could get my desperate hands on, especially those relating to the Old Kingdom. I own a few of Garth's Nix books and thirst for more. The build of this particular book is quite nice, thick and relatively short, making it excellent for stowing in a bag. The cover art is unique and beautiful, as all his covers are. This book currently holds a place of honor in my room, where it resides on top of a pile of other books. A few of his other books are placed in similar spots among my other books. I love my book, and I have been meaning to re-read it for a long time. I would recommend buying this book, and I would again should the need arise. Overall, it's an excellent book, by an excellent author, for an excellent price.

The only reason I gave this 3 stars is because it came ripped. The stories themselves are amazing and deserve 5 stars.I absolutely love the Abhorson series and wanted to add this book to my collection. I'm just upset that the front cover came ripped in two spots. I understand that it's a paperback but it should have been packaged more securely or packaged undamaged to begin with.I'm not going to bother returning because it's too much of a hassle for what it's worth but Amazon needs to either have better quality control or package their products better.

I bought this for the Old Kingdom story, looking for something to hold me over until the next book. The Old Kingdom story was very good, as were all the other stories in this collection. I was pleasantly surprised, having the experience that short story collections by my favorite authors are often a mish-mash of angst-ridden strangeness that I usually don't enjoy.Very glad I purchased this enjoyable collection. I also purchased To Hold the Bridge and enjoyed that thoroughly also.

I do recommend this book, but it's more an anthology than a book itself. When the title says "...and Other Stories", it means it. Only about 1/4 of the book is the story of going "Across the Wall", but everything else contains short stories that don't connect at all. I got to one that is sort of a game/maze kind of story, but I just stopped because about 1/4 of the book is of it.I recommend this book if you like the story of the "Abhorsen" to read the first part, but I'm just telling you that all the other stories are okay, if you have to time and patience to read the other stories.

I really like Garth Nix, and I am a big fan of his Old Kingdom series. I was really excited to find out what happened to Nick. After reading Abhorsen, I felt like there was still some story to tell. I think that The Creature in the Case helped wrap things up. (Not that I wouldn't be overjoyed to see another Old Kingdom tale!) The other stories in Across the Wall reinforced Nix's reputation as a skilled writer of dark, rich, and fascinating tales. I bought two copies so that I could keep one and give one to my friend.

I’ve read all the Abhorsen novels, which I bought for my daughter. I like the storylines and the imagination. This is a collection of short stories, only one of them fills a small gap in the aforementioned novels but the rest of the stories have that Garth Nix way of telling a story that has kept me reading his for so long

several great short stories in this book. each is quite unique and individual and i love the little explanations of each of the stories from the author himself. gives each story its own place and character (if that is possible!). i have several favorites but the ones that stand out are 1) the story about the girl left doorstep set in wild west 2) the different take on the merlin and the lady story 3) lady in the lake story.BTW THIS HAS CREATURE IN THE CASE IN IT. dont make the same mistake and buy this as well as creature in the case seprately

An interesting miscellany of stories which demonstrates the versatility of Garth Nix. Readers who are only familiar with the Old Kingdom books may be surprised that he can write comedy, too - "Down to the Scum Quarter" is hilarious. The longest of the stories is the novella "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case", which was excellent. It was brilliantly paced, full of action and suspense and a good development of the Nicholas Sayre character - it left me wanting to know more about the Old Kingdom and what happened next to Nick, Sam and Lirael. Other stories in the collection are sombre and thought-provoking - for example, "Charlie Rabbit" and "Hope Chest".

Across The Wall was a must to buy for me after reading the old kingdom triology Sabriel, Lirael & Abhorsen written for children but so appealing to the adult audience.Across the Wall came within a week of purchase and in very good quality just as advertised on the website, if anyone wants more adventure from the Old Kingdom and Garth Nix's characters then this is a must to buy.

If you really want to read more of Garth Nix, then this is worth adding to your collection - the brief introduction at the beginning of each story provides a nice insight into Nix's thought and writing process.Overall however, it's very much a scrapbook - there's ideas all over the place, just waiting to have something done with them.